A Few Of Our Favorite Things...

Matches!

Two lovely little girls who now have families. Two sweet families who have found their daughters. These are a few of our favorite things...

Congratulations and blessings to all! May the paperwork move quickly and may you each be united with your families very soon!

Meet the April 2015 Team {Erin}

Hi everybody! My name is Erin Martin. In a lot of ways I feel like I'm speaking to a bunch of old friends here. This will be my third trip to China with Superkids and I'm so excited about visiting the children we have met before and meeting all the new little ones we will see! I just can't wait to see those precious little faces in person!

My role on the team is not quite as defined as some of the others. I am the photographer (though I'm excited to have another photographer, Keith, going on this trip), but I also get quite a bit of time to just connect with the children. Depending on their age we do different activities with them. Sometimes we roll a ball back and forth or blow bubbles. For older kids we print out pictures of them and maybe ask them to draw a self portrait by looking at the picture. Our goal is always to bring joy to the child and to make them feel treasured, special, and beautiful. Hopefully by providing them with pictures and mirrors these feelings can last and be remembered long after we leave. Of course this also gives me the benefit of learning a bit about each child's personality, which is such a joy to me, and a huge benefit when it comes time to advocate for each child!

I'm also largely the person behind this blog, although I'm planning to have everybody chip in while we are on the trip! Not that I've told all of them that yet...

Now a little about me. I'm a homeschooling mother of five. My husband and I have three biological sons, a daughter adopted from Kazakhstan in 2008, and a daughter adopted from China in 2012. I love being a mom and am so thankful for each of my kids. We stay pretty busy between school, music lessons, and just living life.

 My favorite hobby is photography. I love taking classes, practicing, and shooting anything that will be still enough for me to practice on. Thankfully I have some pretty willing models most of the time!

I can't wait to get to China again and I hope you will all follow along. It's going to be an exciting journey!

Meet the April 2015 Team {Darla}

Hello from Wisconsin!  I am Darla Wrage and I am excited to be traveling to China in a few weeks.  I have been a general pediatrician for the past 18 years and this will be my third Superkids trip. I can’t wait to see those precious faces and love on those children!

For the last 15 years, my heart for adoption and China has grown.  I have loved being on this side of the ocean helping families decipher information.  As a pediatrician, it is a joy it is to be one of the first people to meet the child when he or she comes home.  After adopting our daughter in May 2011, my passion for adoption increased.  I saw the tremendous need to find families for orphans.  My dream had been to travel to China to use my medical skills to help children in orphanages, and Superkids has made that possible.  I believe the one on one interaction with a child may be life changing.  As an adoptive parent, I understand the fear of the unknown.  I am hopeful that the work that we do can allay some of those fears of prospective parents.

My role has on the team is to do a developmental assessment and medical exam of each child.  We attempt to sort through the diagnosis of the child and gather medical information from the staff. 

Outside of work, who am I?  Mom is my favorite title and a much used word in our household!  I have 5 children, with the youngest two being adopted from China.  Our children joined our family at ages 6 and 8, so we are advocates for the “special needs” of the older child.  We have a very active, involved family, so we spend time at basketball games, church activities, concerts, plays, soccer games, swim meets, etc. 

Believe it or not, I do have time for a few hobbies.  I love to cook – and because I love food, I exercise.  For years, I have been a runner, but have started competing in triathlons the past 2 years.  I am also the director of our Awana Sparks ministry at church teaching 60 kindergarten through 2^nd graders. 

Meet the April 2015 Team {April}

Hello all!  My name is April Uduhiri, and I may be a familiar name/face to some of you already – I’ve been working in Gladney’s NYC office as an Asia Program Caseworker for about 5 ½ years.

As a caseworker, I’ve been supporting the Superkids team for the last several years, before, during and after their trips to China.  I often help organize paperwork and photos, host webinars and talk to prospective adoptive parents about the kids available in the program as well as explaining what Superkids does!  Now, I am so excited to be able to go to China as part of the team for the first time!

One of my favorite aspects of working for Gladney’s China program is learning about the children and finding families for them – I am involved in a lot of the matching process and it is such an amazing thing to be able to talk to parents about the kids!  You can look at the matching process from two perspectives – finding children for families, and finding families for children.  Both of these perspectives are definitely important and necessary, but I have to admit that I lean more towards the viewpoint of finding families for children.  I love that Superkids helps us toward this goal!

And just for fun, if anyone is interested in a bit of personal info… I grew up in Manitoba, Canada until coming back to the US (I was born in the Midwest!) to go to college.  I moved around a bit after I graduated but ended up in Chicago completing a masters degree in Counseling Psychology from Northwestern U. and working for Safe Families, a crisis management program for at-risk families.  This was my introduction to working with kids and families and although my job could often get a little crazy, I loved the kind of impact I was able to have in families’ lives.  I left Chicago to move to NYC to work for Gladney (and to be closer to my then-boyfriend-now-husband!).

Currently, I live in downtown Manhattan with my husband, Reggie, and 17 month old son, Toby.  Having a young family in NYC might sound crazy to some people, but we love living here and couldn’t imagine life anywhere else! 

Some other random facts about me – in Chicago I was part of a Nordic choir which performed almost exclusively in Swedish – a language I don’t speak or understand!  I am an avid reader, I enjoy running (during prime weather conditions ONLY), and I am the proudest auntie to a total of 2 nephews and 3 nieces, one of which was adopted from Africa!

I can’t wait to share another blog post soon – next time from China!

Meet the April 2015 Team {Keith}

Keith is Dr. Darla Wrage's husband. Darla has been part of the Superkids team since 2013. This time we are happy to have Keith is joining us as well.

I'll start by simply stating that I am most likely a rickshaw driver's worst nightmare...6' 8" and 260 lbs.  As I approach...they all seem to suddenly have problems with their chains!  :o)  Actually, watching the ingenuity of the bike/trike transport in China...they don't even see me as a challenge!  I enjoy biking and grew up in South Dakota using a bike for fishing trips and mowing jobs...and I'm fascinated by the use of the bicycle in China.

I end up on the camera roll of many Chinese cell phones.  In China the norm is for random groups of teens to walk up to me...the girls giggling, the boys making dunking motions (FYI: I never played basketball)...form a group around me...and have someone take the picture.  I love to play along with these.  My favorite part is to watch the photographer start out with their phone sideways...look...and then quickly flip it vertical and start backing up!  Of course, being a walking freak show...kids will either love me or be terrified.  I love to laugh and be silly - so hopefully that comes through too!

These cars are awesome... wanted to bring it home as a carry-on

My career has included inventory and receiving management, graduate school in biology/natural resources, university teaching, stay-at-home dad (my toughest job!), residential construction & remodeling, real estate, and now working as a recruiter and trainer for a local hospital.  I recruit physicians, NPs, PA, therapists, pharmacists and leadership positions.  In addition, I provide staff training around topics of leadership, communication and patient experience - I love to teach!  I have always said that on paper I am qualified to do absolutely nothing...but for some reason people keep hiring me!

Goals on trip
On the upcoming SuperKids trip, I see my role as an enabler...in a positive way!  The team has incredibly gifted professionals who need to invest their time in the children - getting to know them, assessing them in terms of development and packing as much value into the short time they have.  I see my role as enabling them to do so - without ever worrying about the stuff of getting things done;  keeping batteries charged, cords found, cameras working, printers printing, memory cards organized, digital information backed-up and safe in multiple forms, paper forms ready, audio recordings archived, creating growth charts, connecting in-country information and data to the correct child, playing MacGyver to figure out how to make something work and yes, being on the look-out for Diet Coke or Coke Zero!  I really want the team to be able to work without ever thinking about any of these things.

On previous trips, the team would return from an exhausting itinerary faced with piles of information and many gigabytes of digital media.  I helped post-process/edit all of the video files from one of these previous trips that Darla was on.  My goal is to process and organize all of the information and media for every child in almost real time.  By noon of day two, I hope to have all of the information from day 1 processed and complete.  I hope this enables the work AFTER the trip to proceed more smoothly too.  I've worked with the staff to determine what pieces they need most and in what formats it has the most value.  On our second adoption trip, I was able to assist Darla for a day in one orphanage.

My primary hobby is photography - I have a home studio and shoot a few events but much of my focus is on sports photography.  You'll usually find me on the sidelines at football games, on the baseline in the gym, or at concerts or theater events.  On the trip, I hope to be able to use those skills as well.  One of my goals is to shoot short "video portrait" clips of as many children as possible and document the team doing their work.  My other hobby is construction - and hopefully that will enable me to help them team as needs arise.

One of my kids finally caught me on camera- in Guangzhou

I love being Dad to my five children - spread out from college to 3rd grade.  I am truly blessed.  Our two youngest were adopted from China about 2 years apart so I've traveled in China twice.  I look forward to returning to do the hard work required to change the future of a child.

Gus

This is a week of boys. I have another wonderful boy to introduce to you today! We are calling him Gus. He will be 10 years old very shortly. He is described as a little shy with strangers, but very polite to people he knows.

Gus is a healthy little boy with no health concerns. He is an average student. He can run, jump, ride a bike, and all of the other things you expect a 10 year old boy to do.

Gus is in a foster home and gets along well with his foster family and his classmates at school.

He prefers meat dishes to vegetables (I told you he is a typical ten year old boy). He like to play football and watch cartoons.

The Superkids team will be meeting Gus when we are in China in 1 1/2 weeks. We should be able to get updated information and more pictures then.

Gus was asked if he wants to be adopted and he indicated that he does. Are you his family?

Please contact April Uduhiri at april.uduhiri@gladney.org for more information about adopting Gus.

Griffin {Under Consideration}

It is time for some baby love! Just look at this cute little fellow!

Griffin is 15 months old and is described as very clever. He likes watching everything that is going on around him and when it is meal time he wants to be fed first. If he isn't he cries and will not stop until he is fed. (How is that for standing up for your own needs at a very young age!?)

Griffin has several diagnoses. He has CHD (PDA), postoperative cleft lip, and postoperative right brachial plexus injury. He is developing well and can sit by himself. He can crawl with some assistance. He holds his own bottle and grabs toys to play with them.

He recognizes his name when it is called and he likes to cuddle with familiar people. When he is being held he likes to hold tightly to the clothes of his caregiver. (awwww. A cuddlebug!) I hope he will give me a few snuggles when the Superkids team is in China in a two weeks. We should be able to get more information and pictures too. Everyone be expecting some more Griffin cuteness coming up!

This darling baby needs a family to care for him and to give him all the cuddles he wants! Could Griffin be your son?

Please contact April Uduhiri at april.uduhiri@gladney.org for more information about adopting Griffin.